Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried and Debtors Reach Settlement in Embed Proceeding

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Hassan Shittu

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Hassan Shittu

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December 25, 2023

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The bankrupt crypto exchange FTX and its debtors have reached a settlement agreement with founder Samuel Bankman-Fried and others to address certain claims related to the acquisition of the stock trading platform Embed.

In a December 22 filing with the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, the FTX debtors announced a proposed settlement with former CEO Sam “SBF” Bankman-Fried specifically related to claims in the Embed proceeding. According to the filing, the resolution would only address certain aspects of the bankruptcy case concerning Embed and SBF, rather than all the assets involved in dealing with creditor claims.

The proposed agreement is considered to be in the best interests of the estates, creditors, and stakeholders, recovering over $240 million FTX paid for Embed and all of the value conferred by the simple agreements for future equity upon Bankman-Fried and former FTX executives Nishad Singh and Gary Wang.

According to the filing, FTX US issued two simple agreements for future equity to Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) in 2022, requiring him to pay $160 million for the right to a number of shares in the crypto hedge fund. The proposed settlement aims to return all the value of FTX US to which SBF may be entitled.

Under this agreement, the FTX debtors will recover 100% of the value paid for Embed’s acquisition and all the assets held under the names of Bankman-Fried, Singh, and Wang at Embed. Bankman-Fried will also relinquish the right to and assign to plaintiffs all assets held in accounts in his name at Embed.

“The Agreement’s terms will recover for the Plaintiffs’ estates 100% of the value conferred by the [simple agreements for future equity] upon Bankman-Fried. Bankman-Fried also relinquishes the right to, and assigns to Plaintiffs, all assets held in accounts in his name at Embed.”

However, this recent settlement happened a few days after FTX Trading Ltd. announced reaching a global settlement with FTX Digital Markets Ltd. to pool assets and redistribute them to FTX.com’s customers worldwide. FTX reached a global settlement between its US and Bahamas bankruptcy proceedings in an effort to maximize creditor payouts and liquidation processes.

FTX Announces Global Settlement to Address Complexities in US and Bahamas Bankruptcy Proceedings

On December 18, the global settlement agreement was signed with the joint official liquidators overseeing the wind-down of FTX Digital Markets Ltd., a subsidiary incorporated in the Bahamas. The Bahamas-based subsidiary entered liquidation proceedings following FTX Trading Ltd.’s bankruptcy filing.

The deal is contingent on approvals from the Supreme Court of the Bahamas and the US Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, which the parties plan to seek soon.

If approved, FTX Digital Markets will lead the realization of assets in the Bahamas. At the same time, FTX Debtors will oversee other recovery activities, including any sale transactions involving the FTX.com exchange and the realization of intellectual property.

Also, it would provide a novel resolution to synchronize the bankruptcy and liquidation processes across jurisdictions.

The agreement aims to facilitate cooperation in pooling assets, align the timing of creditor payouts, and establish unified policies for valuing claims and administering proceedings. The move is part of efforts to maximize creditor payouts following FTX’s dramatic collapse.

A liquidity crunch triggered the collapse of the FTX exchange in November 2022 as users attempted to withdraw assets amounting to billions of dollars.

FTX filed for bankruptcy in November 2022 after the resignation of Bankman-Fried, who has been convicted of seven felony charges in the United States. However, FTX closed the Embed acquisition just six weeks before the exchange collapsed in November 2022, resulting in the loss of billions in customer funds. The current CEO, John Ray, described the actions leading to the collapse as “old-fashioned embezzlement.”